Nest halts sales on CO2 detector over safety concern

Nest announced on Thursday that sales on its Protect smoke and carbon monoxide detector were being halted over a potential safety problem.

The concern has to do with the ability to wave to shut off a detector, called the "Nest Wave," which prevents people from having to grab a ladder to reach the ceiling mounted device once it has gone off, according to NBC News.

Company CEO Tony Fadell wrote a letter saying the potential safety problem was first discovered during testing and isn't the result of the situation actually happening to any of its customers.

Fadell wrote that during testing "we observed a unique combination of circumstances that caused us to question whether the Nest Wave (a feature that enables you to turn off your alarm with a wave of the hand) could be unintentionally activated."

The Protect isn't being recalled, since Nest can deactivate the feature on any devices connected to the internet, but will be offering a refund to anyone interested, reports USA Today.

While the Wave feature will be deactivated, the device will still monitor customers' houses for CO2 and smoke, it will just require getting on a ladder to turn it off until a fix is found.